The Voice

by Jennifer Anne Davis

  All I had to do was stay focused on my book and not pay attention to the boys. I could do that.

  Caleb closed his eyes, and Justin eventually lay down on his back. I glanced over at Justin. He looked tense. I didn’t say anything. I kept rereading the same page over and over, unable to concentrate on a single word. Don’t look at his beautiful, tan skin. Don’t look at his torso with perfectly chiseled muscles. Ignore his handsome face. Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look.

  “I’m going for a walk,” Justin announced, taking off.

  “Don’t take it personally,” Caleb said. I didn’t realize he was awake.

  “What?” I played dumb.

  “Justin. He really likes you. He just doesn’t know what to do about it. Give him time.”

  “What makes you think I care or am even interested?”

  Caleb smirked. “You’re too cute.” He closed his eyes again.

  About a half hour later, the boys’ friends started arriving. Lots of them. Before I knew it, there had to be about twenty people from school surrounding me. Of course, no one actually spoke to me, although I did keep my nose in my book, pretending not to be interested. But I got really hot and needed to flip over. I wasn’t comfortable lying on my back, so I sat up. Looking around, I saw Justin off to the side, talking to a few girls from school.

  “Hungry?” Caleb asked. He held out a squished peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I shook my head. “We’re going to play a game of volleyball. Want to join us?”

  “No, thanks.” Running around in my suit on the hot sand didn’t sound like my idea of fun.

  I went back to reading while covertly studying Justin. Caleb and Justin were on a team with two other guys, and they played against another foursome. Surprisingly, Justin seemed outgoing here around his friends, versus at school, where he was always so standoffish.

  Although Justin and Caleb looked different, there was a definite connection between them that most twins seemed to have. They played really well together, anticipating each other’s moves. What amazed me the most, though, was seeing Justin relaxed. He actually smiled, and I thought I saw him laugh. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him run around in his swim trunks, just having a good time. I saw him glance at me a few times, and my heart raced every time he looked my way.

  A group of girls laughed. Turning around, I saw four girls arrive. Cheerleaders. Hannah was one of them. Justin and Caleb left their game and went over to greet them. One of the girls was flirting with Justin, putting her hand on his chest. He stood there, laughing, and I looked away, irritated. Why did girls like that get all the attention? Whatever.

  “Makayla, right?” a guy asked, squatting by my left shoulder. I didn’t recognize him.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m Drew. We have civics together.”

  He had super short, light-brown hair and he was big, like a linebacker. Must be one of Caleb’s friends. I smiled and went back to reading.

  “Mind if I sit here?”

  Although I preferred to be left alone, I just shrugged. Like most people, Drew made me nervous. He sat next to my towel, and I took a deep breath. My palms started sweating, and I tried calming myself down. If I could be friends with Caleb, then I could be friends with other guys too. Still, he didn’t have to sit quite so close.

  Drew wore trunks without a shirt. I felt awkward next to him in a bikini.

  “Want something to drink?” he asked, handing me a bottle of Gatorade.

  I took it, not sure what else to do. I twisted the cap off and took a sip. Holy crap, definitely not Gatorade.

  Drew chuckled. “Malibu Rum.” Gatorade and Malibu Rum. Seriously? “You’re new to school?” he casually asked. I nodded. “Must be hard being the new girl senior year. Especially with Caleb all over you. Not going to make a lot of friends that way.”

  “Caleb and I are just friends,” I replied, not sure if Hannah or one of her friends put Drew up to this.

  “Funny, that’s what Caleb said,” he smiled at me. “But when he told me to leave you alone, I wondered if he was telling the truth.”

  I took another drink. Maybe the rum was a good idea after all. I glanced over at the volleyball game. Caleb and Justin were now on a team with two bikini-clad girls that I knew from one of my classes. They were beautiful, tan, and carefree. I took another drink.

  “Do you play any sports?” Drew asked. “I bet we could take on the power twins. Up for a game?”

  Was he serious? “I don’t think so.” I twisted the cap on and off.

  Drew kept talking, but I wasn’t paying attention. I got the feeling that he was trying to make Caleb jealous. Wouldn’t work—we really were just friends. I, on the other hand, was excruciatingly jealous. Justin was suddenly Mr. Social with everyone but me. Caleb claimed Justin liked me, but I doubted it. If he liked me, then he would be able to talk to me. Instead, he was over there with Miss Barbie.

  I took another drink, starting to relax from my panic attack. Drew was still babbling on. I wasn’t sure why I was drinking like this. It was something I would never have done before. It was something I wouldn’t have done back home. So why was I drinking? If my brothers found out, they would kill me. They always said drinking impaired one’s decisions. And of course, being a girl, that was a very bad thing.

  Drew was sitting too close, and I discreetly tried to move away. He put his hand on my knee and I jumped, spilling my drink. Crap, it was all over my legs. Drew grabbed a napkin and was about to wipe my legs off. Was he insane? I grabbed the napkin from him and wiped my own legs. I needed to get away—the attention was too much.

  “Here,” Drew said, pulling me up by the arm. Why did he have to keep touching me? I felt tears forming in my eyes. I just wanted him to leave. “I’ll walk you to the bathroom so you can get cleaned up.”

  Flashes of Bill dragging me out of my house flew through my mind. My body trembled. Drew led me down the beach toward the lifeguard station where the bathroom was located. I pulled my arm away, but kept walking so no one would see me freak out. I felt naked and defenseless, something I swore I would never feel again. I was so stupid . . . and tipsy. I prayed his intentions were good, though I doubted it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have offered the alcohol. Drew’s hand grabbed mine and he tugged me closer, wrapping his arm around my waist.

  “Don’t touch me,” I warned.

  “Sorry.” Drew backed away. “The bathroom is right over there. Come on.” He took my hand again, pulling me toward it.

  “Don’t. I’m not comfortable. I don’t really know you.”

  Drew smiled down at me. “Kind of the point, don’t you think?”

  I meant that I wasn’t comfortable with the hand holding. I had no idea what he was implying. If he came any closer when we got to the bathroom, I would scream. There were enough people around that he couldn’t possibly hurt me, right? How had I let this happen? I was never going to drink again. Ever.

  “Makayla!” Someone shouted from behind me. Turning, I saw Justin jogging up the beach toward us.

  “Your timing sucks, Justin. What do you want?” Drew asked, his hand tightening around mine.

  “Makayla, are you okay?” Justin asked as he approached. It was a tad difficult to understand him because his voice was still hoarse.

  “Of course she’s okay. What’s it to you?” Drew demanded.

  I said, “No. Justin, I—”

  Justin came up beside me. I was about to cry.

  “Drew,” Justin’s tone sharpened. “Makayla came with me. We’re leaving.” I was able to squeeze my hand free of Drew’s.

  “Dude, we were just hanging out. Right, Makayla?”

  “I want to leave with Justin,” I managed to say.

  Justin’s shoulders relaxed. “Let’s go. Caleb’s loading up the Jeep.”

  I reached out and took Justin’s hand as he led me away. Everything was starting to spin and I needed the support. Drew was saying something, but I didn’t listen.

  “Are you okay?” Just
in whispered close to my ear.

  I shivered. “Fine. Too much spiked Gatorade.”

  “Figures. Drew’s an ass.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder to help steady me. It felt safe, and he smelled amazing—a combination of suntan lotion and the ocean. Then I realized I wore only a bikini and that he only had trunks on. His torso touched mine. I wanted to turn and face him, to run my hands all over his body.

  My head spun.

  Justin led me straight to the Jeep, avoiding everyone. Caleb had our stuff loaded and was waiting for us. My clothes were nowhere in sight. Then I spotted my bag at the bottom of everything. Justin handed me his shirt, which was lying on the seat, and I slipped it on. It felt like someone was hitting my head with a hammer. I cringed. Did I say I was never going to drink again?

  The drive home was awful. Justin ended up sitting next to me. He rubbed my back and looked genuinely worried and annoyed at the same time. On one level, I was horrified that he was seeing me in this condition. On another, I was glad it was Justin. I trusted him, even if he couldn’t talk to me or be my friend.

  I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up, my head was on Justin’s lap, his hand stroking my hair. It felt soothing and I didn’t want him to stop, but we were home. My head wasn’t pounding anymore, but my stomach felt like it had worms crawling in it.

  “Thanks for helping me.” I attempted a smile, but couldn’t meet Justin’s eyes. He walked me to Kate’s. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It was really stupid of me and I’m glad you showed up.” That was hard to admit, and embarrassing. Even harder was the fact that I was thrilled he was talking to me. Stupid. I fumbled in my bag for the house key.

  He nodded. “Wasn’t your fault.” The more he spoke, the more I thought he sounded familiar. It was difficult to tell with his voice being half gone. “I, um . . . need to go. Is Kate home?” Justin coughed.

  I called inside, Kate didn’t respond. “No, but that’s okay. I’m going straight to bed until this wears off.”

  “I can stay until she gets home,” Justin whispered. I was about to argue when he walked in the house and took my hand. “How about you lie on the couch?” He looked back at me while leading me to the family room.

  After I sat down, Justin got me a glass of water and told me to drink it. I did as instructed. Plopping down on the chair next to the couch, he put his head back and closed his eyes. I, too, closed my eyes and fell into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

  Chapter 17

  “You have got to stop fidgeting. You’re driving me crazy,” Caleb pulled my hand away from my mouth. My foot started bouncing and his hand grabbed that too. “Stop.”

  “I can’t help it.” The more time that passed without my stalker resurfacing, the worse my anxiety got. I had no nails left.

  “What has you so on edge?”

  “The phone calls,” I sighed. And the feeling of being watched, but I kept that to myself. Every once in a while, I got an eerie sensation that spiders were crawling all over my body. I had gotten this feeling when Bill was around.

  Whenever he’d come over to our house, he always observed me, tracking my every movement. No one else had ever noticed, yet I was keenly aware of it. And then at the cabin, I had the same slimy feeling when he was close by. The fact that I was experiencing this again scared me.

  “Aren’t the police looking into it?”

  I nodded.

  “Then there’s nothing you can do.”

  Oh, there was plenty for me to do—like worry.

  “Even though Bill’s locked up, you’re still allowing him to control you.”

  I stared at Caleb, knowing he was right, and there was no way I wanted to let Bill intimidate me anymore. Of course, that was easier said than done.

  When I had talked to the DA, I told him what stalker guy said—about Bill wanting me to change my testimony and say I went willingly. The DA assured me that it didn’t matter. Bill’s attorney was probably going to argue for a lesser sentence. But given all of the evidence, like the condition of the cabin where I was held and the malnutrition and physical abuse done to my body, Bill would be put away for a very long time.

  “Audrey. Earth to Audrey. Do your homework. It’ll take your mind off it.”

  “Easy for you to say. Your family wasn’t threatened.”

  Caleb laughed. I smacked him with a pillow.

  “Hey—be nice!”

  “How can you laugh?” I scolded.

  “Audrey, do you really think your family cares about Bret’s stupid car? They got you back. Everything else is meaningless.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “No buts. Now do your homework before you drive me insane.”

  Opening my backpack, I realized I forgot my calculus book in my locker. That was the majority of my homework.

  “Can you see if Justin has his calc book?” I asked.

  Caleb snorted. What did he find so amusing?

  “Go ask him yourself. Oh, that’s right. The two of you pretend the other doesn’t exist.”

  “I do not,” I huffed. How could he accuse me of such a thing? Justin was the one who never talked to me.

  I walked out of the room with my chin up. I could do this. Although, with each step, my heart pounded harder and my hands got sweatier.

  Justin’s door was closed as usual. I stood there a minute before knocking lightly. He didn’t answer.

  I went back to Caleb’s room. “He’s not there.” Or he was ignoring me, which was most likely the case.

  “Justin!” Caleb yelled. No response. “He’s probably out running.”

  I didn’t realize Justin ran. Guess he had to stay in shape some way. I really didn’t know him at all.

  “Just go into his room. If he brought his book home, it’ll either be on his desk or in his backpack.”

  I didn’t feel comfortable going into Justin’s room like that. If it were Caleb, I’d be able to, but Justin and I didn’t have that kind of friendship.

  “Audrey, just go already.”

  Reluctantly, I headed back to Justin’s room and eased the door open. Thank God he wasn’t in there. That would have been embarrassing.

  Once inside, I questioned whether I was even in the right place. The last time I had seen his room—granted, I was spying on him from Kate’s house—it had been a disaster. Now everything was neat and organized. I tried not to look too closely at his stuff, because I didn’t want to pry. Actually, I did, but wasn’t going to.

  Justin’s desk was empty, no calc book, but his backpack was on his chair. I unzipped it quickly and found the book. I couldn’t help but take a swift glance at the shelves above his desk. There were several academic awards, which surprised me, a few sports trophies, which didn’t, and a framed picture lying on its side. Instinctively I reached to sit it upright, and then froze.

  Staring back at me was my senior picture. The one missing from Kate’s house. I shook my head. What was going on? The math book slipped from my grip and I ran to Caleb’s room, throwing all of my stuff into my backpack.

  Caleb’s gaze followed me. “Audrey, what’s the matter?”

  Slinging my backpack on my shoulder, I started for the door. He stood quickly and blocked my path. Feeling panicked, I stepped aside, but he cut me off again.

  “Move, please,” I demanded.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I looked away, trying not to lose it. How could I have been so naive? I knew something was going on with Justin, I just didn’t know what. Justin seemed strange, but not stalker strange. Yet, he always seemed to know what was going on, even though I never told him anything—like that phone call at school. I wasn’t sure what it meant. Did he know Bill? Or was he simply messing with me? Whatever the reason, I wasn’t staying around to find out.

  “Why are you so panicked? Talk to me, please.”

  “Your brother is psycho.”

  Caleb’s eyes widened. “Why? What did you see?” His voice cracked ever so slightly.

  “He stole my pic
ture from Kate’s house. I don’t know what he’s up to—”

  “It’s not what you think,” Caleb urged. “That picture means nothing.”

  “It’s not just the picture. It’s everything. It’s creepy.” Caleb didn’t respond or look at me. “You know something,” I accused.

  He grabbed his phone and began texting. “You have to talk to Justin. I can’t explain.”

  Shaking my head, I bolted down the stairs.

  “Audrey, wait.”

  I plowed through the front door and headed toward Kate’s house. Glancing down the street, I saw Justin running toward me. He wore jogging clothes along with his iPod, and he was staring right at me. He was gaining ground, sprinting faster than I thought possible. Crap. I ran the rest of the way, fumbling for the key. I tried to open the front door as quickly as possible. I could hear his footsteps pounding on the pavement.

  “Audrey, wait!” he panted.

  I threw the door open and then slammed it closed. I turned the lock just as Justin reached the door.

  “Audrey, let me explain,” he yelled through the door. “Please, it’s not what you think.” I ran upstairs, hiding in Kate’s room, pulling my legs close to my chest.

  Ten minutes later, Kate came home and found me crying. I told her about Justin being my stalker guy, that he thought it was some sick joke. She pressed her lips together and stormed off to confront him.

  I just stayed in her room, too confused to move.

  About an hour later, she returned with a very different expression.

  “Audrey, there’s an explanation for everything. The boys are not threatening you in any way. They are helping out—more than you can imagine.”

  I couldn’t believe Kate was taking their side. I was too afraid, not knowing whom to trust anymore. “I want to go home.”

  She nodded. “Okay. But you need to let Justin explain first.”